Chocolate Rain is so good you could get accidentally poisoned by it. Can't taste that ABV at all.Brew Dog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin tastes like what I imagine a well-seasoned barbecue grill tastes like. Their Sink the Bismarck isn't much more palatable. But Chocolate Rain? Omg shut up and take my money.

gilgamesh23: Once you start freezing out some of the water haven't you entered the distilled spirits realm? It's different method, but the results are the same.

It's 'eisbock'ing and yes, it gets into shady legal definition. Many brewers do it, but sell it under the table (at festivals, tastings, etc.) to avoid the legalities

What is the maximum alcohol level at which yeast can still survive? Has anyone been doing selective

breeding to get that number up for beers like this?

Yes. There is an 'eau de vie' strain that goes past 20% abv, but about 10 years ago, researchers at Harvard did genetic manipulation to strains to make a turbo strain. I believe this is what Sam Adams uses for their (crappy) Utopias

rocinante721:Yes. There is an 'eau de vie' strain that goes past 20% abv, but about 10 years ago, researchers at Harvard did genetic manipulation to strains to make a turbo strain. I believe this is what Sam Adams uses for their (crappy) Utopias

Ah, well thank you very much. Nice to see such cooperation between higher ed and industry in Massachusetts, anyway.

One of the worst hangovers I've ever had was from drinking an 16+ APV. It's no man's land. Just diluted enough that you drink a high volume, and just strong enough to make you feel like you drank a shiatty bottomshelf liquor.

I've tried a few of the higher alcohol content beers and they've all tasted yucky; I can't remember one that tasted good. It seems like if you're intent on getting buzzed, drink a distilled spirit for that. Drink beer because that beer tastes good (and will get you a bit buzzed).

Hrm. I'm a fan of a lot of beers that push the 8-9% mark, but past that...just doesn't seem like a pleasant drink to me. That said, I'd certainly try many/most of these just because I'll drink anything once.

I live half a mile (stumbling distance) from Hair of the Dog. They name all of their beers after employees and not many of them are any good. They do have a few, the Adam for example. Most of the time you'll find me at Cascade a few blocks away. It's the west coasts sour beer Mecca. Amazing high percentage fruit beers and they rarely miss. The Sang Noir being a good example of a cherry beer that is more like a wine than a beer and it is amazing. If you're in PDX and you like beer you need to stop by.

I've had DFH's 120min. IPA (20% ABV) and Utopias. I actually still have my bottle of Utopias on my shelf with over half of it left. I have a little once in a while for special occasions; the stuff keeps like cognac and tastes farking amazing. And yes, it was expensive. Very worth it though.

120min. IPA tastes like hops and watermelon. It's neat to try but a bit jarring. Oh, and split it with friends because, yeah, 20% alcohol. And it's expensive too.